The city manager has proposed a spending plan for the next fiscal year that would leave Rockville's property tax rate unchanged but increase water rates to pay for repairs to aging pipes.

‘‘I refer to this as a 'happy news' budget, as we're providing these services without increasing taxes, as so many nearby jurisdictions are doing,” Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann said.

If approved, the property tax rate would remain at 30.2 cents per $100 of assessed value; the monthly trash fee would stay at $32.70.

Officials said they need to raise water rates to pay for a 15-year project to replace the 33 miles of decades-old pipes to comply with state and federal regulations. Last year, the city had a record 65 water main breaks that cost about $250,000 to fix.

The rates would increase to $2.80, from $1.78, per thousand gallons for the first 12,000 gallons; to $4.02, from $2.56, per thousand gallons for the next 12,000 gallons; and to $4.32, from $2.75, per thousand gallons beyond 24,000.

The sewage rate would increase 3.9 percent, to $3.97 per thousand gallons. The ready-to-serve charge that households also pay toward water and sewer would increase 3 percent, to $9.27 per quarter for the average home.

City Council member Piotr Gajewski has asked city staff members to consider other options for raising the water rates so that they would not increase as much during the early phase of the 15-year repair program. Staff members will present those alternatives tomorrow at the council's next meeting.

‘‘I support more aggressive measures in early years when we're in a relatively strong financial position even though tax revenue may go down with the market declining,” Hoffmann said.

For the second year, the budget proposal includes a $100 tax credit per owner-occupied house. It also calls for a senior tax credit, which would allow an additional 25 percent property tax relief for homeowners 70 and older, and a homeowners tax credit program for low- and moderate-income families.

For years, the city held back on increasing staff to devote resources to developing Rockville Town Center. City Manager Scott Ullery's plan would add 23 employees. The positions would include two police officers dedicated to traffic and pedestrian safety.

The $103.9 million budget for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1, would increase 10.7 percent over this year's. It comes a year after the mayor and council adopted a budget 2.7 percent smaller than fiscal 2007.

‘‘Things always get more expensive, so expenses already on the budget can increase year to year,” Ullery said. ‘‘We're adding five new positions in support systems, and we're trying to keep salaries and benefit packages competitive. That and we've got the new [Thomas Farm] Community Center coming online along with a number of other projects.”

The budget includes a new program that focuses on a storm water management facility and storm drainage maintenance, stream restoration, sediment control and efforts to meet federal water quality requirements. The program would be funded by the city during the upcoming fiscal year, and an annual fee of $55.80 would be charged per residential lot in fiscal 2010, with slightly higher fees for non-residential parcels.

A second public hearing on the budget (the first was Monday) is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 14 at Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave. Two work sessions are scheduled for 7 p.m. April 28 and May 5 at City Hall.

The mayor and council are scheduled to adopt the budget May 19. It can be seen at www.rockvillemd.gov/government/budget.

Gaithersburg will release its fiscal 2009 budget April 28.

Mar 19, 2008 -- WASA’s proposed rate adjustment, which takes effect this fall, includes a separate impervious surface charge to pay for the $2.2 billion combined sewer overflow (CSO) control plan.  For more information, click on link below.

Impervious Surface Area Billing Program

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission agreed last night to raise water rates for the utility's 1.8 million customers by 8 percent in July, breaking a stalemate between commissioners representing Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

The six commissioners agreed to the increased rate, which will translate to an increase of about $11 in the average customer's quarterly bill, but decided against adopting an additional fee that the utility's managers had recommended to fund replacement of aging pipes.

As his last act in office, WSSC General Manager Andrew D. Brunhart warned commissioners that failing to adopt the fee puts the reliability of the system in jeopardy.

He said approving such a budget ‘‘communicated to WSSC and to our ratepayers that decaying infrastructure is acceptable to the governing body.”

Last year, the utility experienced a record number of pipe breaks. WSSC managers say the situation will only worsen unless there is an infusion of money.

All six commissioners gave preliminary approval in December to a proposal by WSSC administrators to raise rates by 9.5 percent and apply a $20 per month fee to pay to replace decades-old pipes more quickly.

But after public outcry against that suggested increase and the fee, Prince George's commissioners said the proposal was unfair to low-income customers.

Last night's vote represented a compromise between the Prince George's members and the commissioners from Montgomery, who had pushed for the higher rate and some kind of monthly fee.

Still, two Prince George's commissioners voted against the 8 percent increase. Prince George's Commissioner Prem P. Agarwal joined the Montgomery commissioners in supporting the budget.

Brunhart spent his final hours as the utility's chief at last night's meeting. His contract expired at midnight, and commissioners voted along county lines in August not to extend his service with the utility.

Brunhart, a retired Navy engineer, told commissioners that, absent the infrastructure fee, he would recommend dropping the words ‘‘entrusted,” ‘‘reliable” and ‘‘clean” from the WSSC mission statement

‘‘In my view, the public will no longer be able to trust the system that delivers water to residents,” he said.

Commissioners said they would return to the topic in next year's budget discussions.

The Prince George's commissioners said they think the system needs to invest in replacement of pipes. However, they said discussion is needed to decide the best way to do so.

‘‘We believe the infrastructure fee would disproportionately affect poor people, more than it would affect more affluent people. It is not equitable for all ratepayers,” Agarwal said.

The commissioners from Prince George's also said they doubted the utility's capacity to build the needed miles of pipeline if the fee was approved.

By state law, WSSC is required to submit its budget for approval to the Prince George's and Montgomery county councils by Saturday.  The councils will meet jointly in May to consider the water rate. If they cannot agree, the budget approved by WSSC goes into effect automatically.

LAUREL, MD, FEBRUARY 29: The Commissioners of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) voted last night to transmit to the Montgomery and Prince George’s County Executives a budget for Fiscal Year 2009 that addresses WSSC’s increasing operational costs and calls for continued dialogue on funding the renewal of its infrastructure.  Included in the proposal is an 8.0% rate increase to pay for escalating prices for operational necessities, such as power, chemicals and fuel, as well as the replacement of 27 miles of water mains and 51 miles of sewer mains that are in the existing approved Capital Improvements Program.  The rate increase will add approximately $3.75 per month to the average residential customer’s bill.

Today’s proposal differs from the preliminary budget submitted for public review and comment last December.  It called for a 9.5% rate increase and an Infrastructure Renewal Fee the equivalent of $20 a month for the average residential customer.  Following two public hearings and a series of community meetings, WSSC Commissioners evaluated the response from the public and revised their initial proposal.

The reduction in the rate increase from 9.5% to 8.0% will not result in any cuts from the original proposed budget.  The roughly 5.6 million dollar difference between the two proposals will be bridged by funds from WSSC’s Fund Balance (cash reserves).  The budget does not include the Infrastructure Renewal Fee, which would have increased the rate at which WSSC replaces its aging underground pipes.  The Commissioners acknowledged the need for infrastructure renewal and agreed to continued dialogue on how to fund WSSC’s infrastructure replacement needs.

The vote on the final proposal was 4-2. Commission Chair Adrienne A. Mandel, Commissioner Gene W. Counihan, Commissioner Norman E. Pruitt and Commissioner Prem P. Agarwal voted for the final proposal.  Commission Vice Chair Joyce Starks and Commissioner Juanita D. Miller voted against the measure.

The proposal will now be transmitted to the Montgomery and Prince George’s County Executives.  Each county will hold public hearings and both county councils will vote on the budget in May.

Most residents of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties would see their water and sewer bills jump 50 percent in July to fix aging water mains and pipes that ruptured at record levels last year.

The average residential customer would pay $75 more per quarter (up to $225 from $150) or $300 more annually under the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s proposal.

The plan calls for a $20 per month ‘‘infrastructure renewal fee” and a 9.5 percent rate increase.

‘‘This is a large cost.  We are concerned for our residents,” WSSC General Manager Andrew D. Brunhart said Friday.

But ‘‘the alternative is to Band-Aid and wait,” he said.  ‘‘There will be more breaks until we get ahead of this aging pipe — we need to stand up to it now.”

The utility’s plan and budget will be reviewed by the two counties’ councils in the spring.  If the counties agree on a budget, that becomes the utility’s budget; if they don’t, the agency’s proposal goes in effect by default.

Brunhart said the agency hopes to increase funds available to residents who cannot afford to pay for water and sewer service.  That fund depends on donations and is administered by the Salvation Army.

The proposal comes after six years of no rate increases from 1999 through 2004, while the public utility restructured and fended off efforts to make it go private.  Rate increases since 2004 have averaged less than 3 percent, but one last year raised rates 6.5 percent.  Those increases do not include the state-mandated ‘‘flush tax” of $2.50 a month.

The utility’s lawyer said the infrastructure renewal fee is allowed under a state law that authorizes ‘‘ready-to-serve” charges.  But WSSC is waiting for a ruling on that by the attorney general, Brunhart said.

Utility managers in Maryland are preparing to ask the public to support a plan to raise water bills for most Montgomery and Prince George's residents from $150 to $225 each quarter, saying that customers must pay more or face the disintegration of an aging network of water and sewer pipes.

Under a plan proposed in December by commissioners of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, customer rates would rise 9.5 percent in July.  Residents also would pay an additional $20 monthly fee devoted to speeding the replacement of the system's 10,800 miles of underground water and sewer pipes.

‘‘What is the choice?” asked WSSC general manager Andrew D. Brunhart at a briefing for reporters this morning.  ‘‘The choice is to continue to Band-Aid a dysfunctional system.”

Brunhart said the utility is now able to replace only 25 miles of its piping, much of it decades old and worn down over time by ground water and acidic soil.  As a result, the company experienced 2,129 pipe bursts last year, breaks that leave customers without water and tie up traffic during repairs.

Without a massive investment in the system, he said, the problem will worsen.  ‘‘This is a generational challenge,” he said.

Also today, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority said it was considering its own rate hikes.  In a press release, WASA officials said they wanted to increase the combined water and sewer rate from $5.37 per hundred cubic feet to $5.83.  The extra revenue is needed to pay for a 10-year, $3.1 billion capital improvement program, the release said.

District rates would increase an additional amount because of higher fees charged by the D.C. government and passed on to WASA customers, the authority said.  All told, WASA said that the average residential customer's bill would be increased by about $4.24 per month, to about $55.48.

WSSC froze rates from fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2004, a time of restructuring for the agency.  Brunhart said that resulted in delayed maintenance that has worsened the problem.  The utility now plans to charge the $20-a-month fee for the next 10 years and raise rates each year, including 11.5 percent next year, in an attempt to catch up.

WSSC's six commissioners, representing Prince George's and Montgomery, will have public hearings on the proposal Feb. 6 in Largo and Feb. 7 in Rockville.  They will then vote to adopt a budget, which will go to the Prince George's and Montgomery county councils for approval. The two bodies will meet jointly in May on the utility's budget.

Jan 14, 2008 -- The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) Board is considering a proposed 8.5 percent rate increase for water and sewer services, effective October 1, 2008.  WASA provides water and wastewater collection and treatment services for retail customers in the District.  Gradual rate increases are required to cover the costs of WASA’s 10-year, $3.1 billion capital improvement program to upgrade the District’s water and sewer infrastructure and to meet expanding federal requirements for controlling water pollution.

If approved, the combined water and sewer rate would increase from $5.37 per hundred cubic feet (Ccf) to $5.83 per Ccf.  In addition to this increase, the Right-of-Way/Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) fee will increase from $0.47 per Ccf to $0.52 per Ccf, divided as follows: Payment in Lieu of Taxes to the District of Columbia - $0.39 per Ccf; and District of Columbia Right-of-Way fee - $0.13 per Ccf.  These fees are charged to WASA by the District of Columbia government, and are passed through as a separate line item on the WASA bill.  Under the current proposal, the typical residential customer’s monthly bill would increase by approximately $4.24 per month (based on an average monthly usage of 8.33 (Ccf) or 6,231 gallons of water).

The proposed rate increases will be extensively publicized and discussed at a number of community meetings and a formal hearing.  Included in this year’s public discussion on rate adjustments will be WASA’s proposed policy to implement a separate impervious surface rate structure.  Rather than use the per-gallon water purchase rate, to pay for the $2.2 billion combined sewer overflow (CSO) control plan, this separate proposal for a new rate structure, effective with the October 2008 bill, would be based on the amount of impervious area on each property producing water runoff entering the city’s sewer system.

Additional information on WASA’s rate proposal is available by calling the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 787-2200.